State v. Peters

── State v. Peters ── Court: Court of Appeals of Kansas Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION No. 127,775 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. JASON A. PETERS, Appellant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; JEFFREY SYRIOS, judge. Submitted without oral argument. Opinion filed May 15, 2026. Convictions affirmed, fees vacated in part, and case remanded with directions. Sam Schirer, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant. Lance J. Gillett, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Kris W. Kobach, attorney general, for appellee. Before HURST, P.J., GARDNER and BOLTON FLEMING, JJ. HURST, J.: A jury convicted Jason A. Peters of three sex-related crimes that resulted in him being sentenced to life imprisonment. Peters appeals, claiming four trial errors and challenging two fees assessed as part of sentencing. While the trial was not error-free, this court finds none of the asserted errors resulted in prejudice requiring reversal of Peters' convictions. As such, Peters' convictions are affirmed. However, this court partially agrees with Peters regarding the fees, and finds that the district court erred in assessing a witness fee. Therefore, the witness fee in the district court's order is 1 vacated. The case is remanded with directions to enter a corrected journal entry. Convictions affirmed. fees vacated in part, and case remanded with directions. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On May 6, 2022, the State charged Peters with three counts of off-grid aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Each count alleged that Peters had lewdly touched Jane (a pseudonym), a child under 14 years of age, on different occasions during the time between January 17, 2021, and January 17, 2022. Before trial, the State sought to admit prior bad acts evidence pursuant to K.S.A. 60-455. Peters acquiesced to the admission of his 2004 conviction for possession of child pornography in military court. Peters also did not contest the admission that his military conviction required him to register as a sex offender. Over a defense objection, the court ruled that the State could admit other pieces of evidence pursuant to K.S.A. 60-455(d). One was evidence that Jane reported that Peters had talked about recording a video of him touching the private areas of her body. Another was testimony from Peters' half-sister, Megan (a pseudonym), that Peters sexually abused her when he was a teenager and she was about 7 or 8 years old. This evidence included a letter from Peters apologizing for hurting Megan without admitting to specific acts. However, the court ruled that evidence that Peters had viewed pornography with Megan as "sex education" was inadmissible under K.S.A. 60-455(a) or (b). Because Peters challenges the admissibility of certain evidence related to prior bad acts, it is necessary to address the underlying facts of the case. During the trial, the State identified three acts that could support convictions on its charges: a guilty verdict on count one required a finding that Peters had indecently touched Jane in a shed; a guilty verdict on count two required a finding that Peters had indecently touched Jane on a 2 living room couch on a specifically described occasion; and a guilty verdict on count three required a finding that Peters had indecently touched Jane on the living room couch on at least one other occasion. At trial, the State first called Jane's grandmother, Clara (a pseudonym). Clara